


Similarity

by therune



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-12-27
Updated: 2009-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-05 07:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therune/pseuds/therune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of a DC hero; he´s blond, tall, gorgeous and in a relationship with a redhead who has a thing for technology and is kind of a geek. Only...things are not what they seem and certainly are not the way as expected</p>
            </blockquote>





	Similarity

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Booster´s life is screwed up and twisted in every possible way.  
He´s a time traveler. That alone should be enough, but it goes on.  
Multiverse. 52.  
Crisis. Countdown. Crisis.  
He has Shel back. He loves his sister and vows that nothing bad will ever happen to her again. He will be strong for her.  
At the same time he wants to either bang his head against a wall or curl up and cry.  
Ted is still dead and he doesn´t understand why. Why did it work only for her and not also for Ted?  
Why can´t he save his loved ones?

He walks through Gotham, getting lost in streets and alleys because the ones he remembers won´t be build for years. Then he hears it. Music trickles through the streets, a sad tune calling out. He follows it to a man in green - the Pied Piper - he recognizes.  
Booster feels like someone punched him: the last time he saw Piper, it was with Ted.  
In this music he finds a strange kind of solace: the music speaks to his heart and he recognizes a soul who shares his pain.  
In Piper´s blue eyes is the same understanding, he feels it, too.

Hesitatingly they start to team up. They fight crime, they do the right thing and they cry together.  
Booster tells Piper about Ted, about his loveable geek attitude, about his cleverness, about his grins and his laugh.  
Piper tells him about the Trickster. While Booster remembers Trickster as a smug bastard who once dropped an anvil on him, Piper remembers him as a smug bastard who was his best friend and who gave his life to save his.

They both lost their friends, their other halves. Both lost their laugh and a part of themselves died.

It takes Booster four months to put something together:  
Piper is a red-headed geek who loves to tinker and has sort of a animal-theme.  
Piper notices that Booster is a handsome blonde who likes to laugh, wears a distractingly bright costume and has a big, warm smile.  
They both know that it´s not real and wrong. They find solace for a few moments in the night, but only feel sadder than ever afterwards.

It doesn´t matter that they feel bad when they are lost in the moment. It doesn´t matter that their hearts break every time they do this. It doesn´t matter that Booster calls Piper "Ted". It doesn´t matter that Piper never looks at him.

Booster wraps his arms around Piper and he can feel the bones under the skin.  
Piper listens to Booster´s heartbeat and it´s all wrong.  
Piper is too thin to be Ted, his hair is too long and he has not got Ted´s "Bwahahaha" laugh.  
Booster is too tall, not witty enough and he isn´t that smug, clever man that Piper desires.  
They curl up in the bed, Booster staring into the darkness, Piper keeping his eyes closed and listening.  
"I miss him."  
Both know that they´re just substitutes, a sorry excuse for a love they can never return.

Skeets has the idea when Booster takes Piper to Rip´s lab. Piper glances around, admiring the technology gimmicks as Ted maybe would.  
"Sir," he addresses Booster, "has it ever appeared to you that Mr Piper is a lot like Ted?"  
Booster smiles sadly as he watches Piper examining a silvery tiny machine.  
This is not how Ted would do it: Ted´s tongue would be pressed between his lips, the goggles would be around his neck, cowl pulled back and auburn hair dishelved. Piper is holding the machine with long artists´fingers, carefully turning it and looking at it through green glasses.  
"Yes, it did, Skeets old pal. Why?"  
"Our friend Beetle was a genius with an intellect over 192. This man here is the so called ´Master of Sonics´with the power to mind-control everyone he chooses. Also he seems to be interested in technology."  
A plan begins to form in Booster´s head. He had nearly forgotten about Piper´s mind-control abilities, since Piper usually calls his rats to fight crime or indulges in a more agressive fashion now.

What if...they make the world believe that Ted is dead?  
What if they wait until the very last second?  
What if they leave a corpse from the future in Ted´s place, like his Supernova trick?  
What if Piper forces people to believe whatever he tells them?  
What...  
Why didn´t he think of that earlier?  
Why didn´t he tell Piper about the time-travel before?  
"Because you tried to find Ted in somebody else. You searched for him and neglected the person you were dealing with. You tried to make someone "Ted". I believe that now you see that you don´t need a substitute. Go get the real thing." Booster doesn´t even realize that he asked his questions aloud until Skeets replies.

Piper comes up to him. "I couldn´t help but hearing what you´ve said, Michael"  
\- Booster is "Michael" to him, because Booster wants to be Booster to Ted and not to anyone else -  
"If there is any chance of bringing him back - "  
Booster hears the unspoken "Can we get him back, too?".  
Booster puts one hand on Piper´s shoulder, the other one on Skeets and pulls them together in a Football huddle. "Gentlemen," he announces, "I have a plan."


End file.
